November 28, 2014

Much has been made of Australian Prime Minister’s Tony
Abbott’s backward (read: downright insane) environmental and energy policies,
without looking further into the role that the individual Australian States are
playing. A new report from the Australian Climate Council attempts to rectify
this, by providing the latest research on which Australian States are winning
the race to renewables — “and which are not”.

Four key findings from the report highlight just how
the country’s current political climate is affecting environmental and
energy policies:

Australia’s States and Territories have an important
leadership role to play in tackling climate change and growing Australia’s
renewable energy industry.

South Australia is striding forward leading the Australian
States on renewable energy.

Victoria and NSW have moved from leaders to laggards in
Australia’s renewable energy race.

Australia has substantial opportunities for renewable
energy. A lack of clear federal policy has led to a drop in renewable energy
investment.

The report highlights the success of the United State’s
state-based actions, many individual states setting independent policies and
targets separate to national policies. “The US is the second in the world for
installed renewable energy capacity due to the majority of US states
implementing targets and incentives for renewable energy,” the report’s authors
write.

Similarly, Australian states “have historically led the way
on emissions and renewable energy policy, influencing national action.”

South Australia is currently leading the way on renewable
energy, with $5.5 billion invested into the state’s renewable energy industry
resulting in over 36% of electricity being sourced from renewable generation
technologies, and 1 in 4 South Australian homes topped with solar PV panels.

However, the two most-populous states — New South Wales and
Victoria — “have moved from leaders to laggards in Australia’s renewable energy
race,” according to the authors of the report, who add that with 57% of the
population, “Victoria and NSW only have 40% of renewable energy jobs.”

Neither state has a target to reduce emissions or increase
renewable energy, and Victoria specifically has a restrictive policy
environment which prevents harnessing the many and varied renewable energy
sources the state has to offer. According to the report, not only has
Victoria’s restrictive policy environment dried up renewable investment, but it
has specifically cost the state an estimated $4 billion in lost investment and
3,000 jobs.

As a whole, Australia has massive potential to be a
renewable energy generating behemoth. The sunniest country on Earth, and one of
the windiest, the report’s authors claim that Australia’s renewable energy generating
potential is 500 times greater than current power generation capacity.